Biswanath Chariali

History

Biswanath has a very important historical significance. It formed the borders between Kamata kingdom and Chutiya kingdom, and later between Koch kingdom and Ahom kingdom. Ruins of fort like Pratapgarh, Buroi, etc. still exist which were built by Chutia kings.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Biswanath Chariali had a population of 19,145. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. As per 2001 census, Biswanath Chariali has an average literacy rate of 80%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 85% and female literacy of 75%. 9% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Language

Assamese is the most spoken language at 9,491 speakers, followed by Bengali at 5,162 people and Hindi at 3,434.

Local sights

Biswanath Ghat

There are Institutions of professional education, Biswanath College of Agriculture affiliated to Assam Agricultural University, Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institute under Ministry of Agriculture, Co operation and Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India. It has a Farm Machinery Institution to give training of Farm Machines. Biswanath College is the premier college of the town. It also has a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya School. Three CBSE schools, Biswanath Jnan Bharati in Madhupur and East Indian school in Nabapur including Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. Some good SEBA private schools include Little star school, Sankardev Vidya Niketan, St Xavier's School, Adarsha Vidyapith etc. It has many government SEBA schools like Bahumukhi Vidyalaya (known as boys higher secondary), Chariali Academy etc.

Healthcare

A full-fledged civil hospital, run by the state government is there in Biswanath Chariali. There are reputed hospitals in Biswanath Chariali and they provide very high class service to the patients. Bora's Nursing Home, JK Hospital, KP Memorial Hospital, Sanjeevani Hospital, Baruah Eye Hospital, Netralaya Eye Care Clinic are the famous hospitals of Biswanath.

Culture

Biswanath Chariali is a culturally rich city. A non-profit non-government organization organizes an annual one act play competition called Late Surya Borah Memorial One Act Play Competitions. There is one movie-theater hall in the town and a community hall for other cultural activities. Binapani Natya Mandir has been the centre of cultural activities for decades.

Biswanath Chariali has been hosting Surya Bora One Act Play competition for many years. Binapani Natya Mandir has been the centre of activities related to art and culture. The town has contributed to Assamese Cinema also. Central Namghar has contributed towards spreading Srimanta Sankardevs'works in fine arts.

File:Holy Biswanath (4).JPG | Sivadoul at Biswanath File:Holy Biswanath (3).JPG | Bhaluk Gosai

Transport

The city is a prominent road junction of NH 15 & Pabhoi Road. It is around 75 km east from Tezpur town.

The city has decorated entrance gate on NH 15 on the western side. It is also connected by Railway network. It is situated on Rangiya–Murkongselek section broad-gauge line. This rail line has been converted to broad-gauge in 2013. The new train connecting New Delhi and Itanagar is running through Viswanath Charali railway station. Two Inter city express trains connecting Guwahati have stops at Viswanath Charali railway station. This station has been upgraded to a standard Class III Station.

Currently Viswanath Charali (VNE) station is served by Donyi Polo Express from Naharlagun to Guwahati, Lachit Express from Murkongselek to Guwahati and a recently introduced fully Air Conditioned Shatabdi Express from Naharlagun to Guwahati along with a handful of other passenger trains.

The nearest airport is at Tezpur (Salonibari Airport) which has flights to Kolkata and Guwahati (Air India ATR class of aircraft). Day and night service of private and ASTC buses are available from Guwahati to Biswanath Chariali and from here to almost all major towns and cities of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Notable people

• Kamalakanta Bhattacharya (1853 - 1936) Known as Agnikavi, a poet, essayist, and social reformer

References

References

1. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.281616/page/n261 Journal Of The Asiatic Society Of Bengal 1904, p. 257-258]
2. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India.
3. link
4. "Nagsankar Mandir (Temple)".
5. "Nag-Sankar Temple".
6. [http://pibphoto.nic.in/documents/rlink/2017/oct/p2017102503.pdf Bharatmala presentation]
7. "VNE/Viswanath Charali".